ENG vs IND 1st Test: Virat Kohli has THIS message for people blaming Cheteshwar Pujara

Indian fans are known to blame any player once their team loses. Especially when it comes to Test matches, one player who is mostly blamed is Cheteshwar Pujara. The batsman becomes the villain due to his slow strike rate.

He was also blamed during the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against New Zealand. Pujara scored 8 off 54 balls in the first innings and in the second, scored just 15 off 80 balls.

There was so much talk that many fans even wanted Pujara to sit out for the upcoming England Test series.

Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had shown his support for the Indian batsman, it was now captain Virat Kohli, who has spoken about the issue.

"It's been going on for a while. A player of his caliber and experience should be left alone,” Kohli said, according to Times of India. 

The captain added, "It should be left to the individual to work on whatever drawbacks he has in his game…It's the same with me as it is  with any other member of the team".

Talking about what Pujara thinks about all the criticism, Kohli said, "I know for a fact know that Pujara doesn't care. People can say what they want but at the end of the day, it's just words," TOI reported.

As for the clash, India will face England in a five-match Test series. The first will begin from August 4 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.